Moving across the fields of video, sound, performance and installation, João Vasco Paiva has been developing a peculiar body of work in which the conducting line might be the need to grasp abstract inner scores hidden in the depths of certain situations. When highlighted, these scores represent more of a pragmatic approach than a theoretical response to the mechanisms of media art.
It is natural then, that the artist develops a need to restrain these translations to the behavior of the representational medium itself, instead of transposing them into a new form.
The installation presented at EXPERIMENTA, Forced Empathy - Anchored Monument I, questions the ineluctable relationship between recording and reproduction, by addressing the fundamental constraints of visual documentation. The work also explores the notions of “subject” and “observer”, “input” and “output”, and therefore emphasizes the documentation medium itself.
In this audio visual installation, the artist uses computer programming to freeze an orientation buoy in the center of the frame, being its movement acquired by the background - an exercise on the formal and technical implications of time based documentation. This translation creates an altered visualization of the framed object, resulting in a nauseant yet hypnotic viewing experience. A reflective and exaggerated change in perception that caricatures our relationship with mediated knowledge.
About the Artist
João Vasco Paiva is a Portuguese artist based in Hong Kong since 2006. Presented in the forms of installation, video, digital print and sound recording, his work delves into issues of medium specificity and explores new methods of composition through the interference in specific situations. His work has been presented in festivals such as: Hong Kong Biennial Awards, Moscow Young Art Biennial, Athens Video Art Festival, International Festival of Electronic Language at Sao Paulo, London Exploratory Music Festival, 2Pi Festival and The Creators Project, among others. Since 2008 he participated in several exhibitions in Athens, Beijing, Berlin, Brisbane, Budapest, Campinas, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, New York, Moscow, Porto, Prague and Vienna. Most notable collaborations include “Tactical Overload” with Zbigniew Karkowski in 2010 and “Decelarator” with Alexander Hacke ( Einstürzende Neubauten ) in 2011. (www.joaovascopaiva.com)
About the Curator
Nana Seo Eun-A is a Hong Kong based curator and art researcher, born in Busan. Nana Seo has been working at various international projects in museums, creative art spaces, and art festivals in Asia, her selected works are included at 8th Gwangju Biennale 2010; APAP 2010; October Contemporary 09’; LOOP Video Festival 09’; 3rd Guangzhou Triennial 08’; Shanghai eART Festival 07’; 52nd La Biennale de Venezia 07’. In Hong Kong, she has curated //FREE RIDER //: (2011) ; DUBBLE HAPPINESS: A Story of Siamese Cities (2010) ; Night Light Graffiti (2009) ; Quick Shots (2009) ; FEIGNED INNOCENCE - The other eyes (2009) and more.
Her writings have been featured in art IN ASIA, art in culture and ISSUE magazine. Recently, she has been selected as ‘Global Korean’ curator in 2011. (www.nanaseo.com)
Opening reception on May 20(FRI) 7pm
